14 museums to visit in 2014

CaptionThe Art Institute of Chicago

Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times

This was voted the top U.S. museum for 2013 on TripAdvisor, but that's not why you should visit. Go because of its encyclopedic collections, particularly of Impressionist, Postimpressionist and American art. It seems as if just about every painting studied in art history class is here: George

This was voted the top U.S. museum for 2013 on TripAdvisor, but that's not why you should visit. Go because of its encyclopedic collections, particularly of Impressionist, Postimpressionist and American art. It seems as if just about every painting studied in art history class is here: George (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)

New York is packed with museums, so how do you choose? The choice is easy: Escape the masses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and head to the Frick Collection, just off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side. This jewel box of a museum (No. 2 on the TripAdvisor list) houses a high-qualit

New York is packed with museums, so how do you choose? The choice is easy: Escape the masses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and head to the Frick Collection, just off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side. This jewel box of a museum (No. 2 on the TripAdvisor list) houses a high-qualit (Michael Bodycomb / The Frick Collection)

CaptionThe Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia

NPS.gov

You can sprint up and down the "Rocky" staircase at the Philadelphia Museum of Art or visit the Barnes Foundation in its newish Center City location, but instead choose the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States for a combo lesson in art and American history. It's i

You can sprint up and down the "Rocky" staircase at the Philadelphia Museum of Art or visit the Barnes Foundation in its newish Center City location, but instead choose the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States for a combo lesson in art and American history. It's i (NPS.gov)

You can't go wrong with the twin bill of the Walker Art Center and its collection of more than 40 outdoor sculptures by Oldenburg, DiSuvero, Moore and others, and the Weisman Art Museum (pictured) — a.k.a. the "baby Bilbao" — which just celebrated its 20th anniversary on the campus of th

You can't go wrong with the twin bill of the Walker Art Center and its collection of more than 40 outdoor sculptures by Oldenburg, DiSuvero, Moore and others, and the Weisman Art Museum (pictured) — a.k.a. the "baby Bilbao" — which just celebrated its 20th anniversary on the campus of th (Mike Hicks)

This is a bright cultural beacon in this city's otherwise dismal landscape, with masterpieces such as Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" fresco cycle and Van Gogh's "Self Portrait," the first of his paintings to enter a U.S. museum collection. Its diverse holdings make DIA worth a visit, but th

This is a bright cultural beacon in this city's otherwise dismal landscape, with masterpieces such as Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" fresco cycle and Van Gogh's "Self Portrait," the first of his paintings to enter a U.S. museum collection. Its diverse holdings make DIA worth a visit, but th (Carlos Osorio / Associated Press)